177 Barron, James, “Medical Examiner Rules Ledger’s Death Accidental,” The New York Times, Feb. 7, 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/07/nyregion/07ledger. html?ref=heathledger, accessed July 3, 2011
178 Gold, Matea and Paul Lieberman, “Actor Heath Ledger Found Dead,” The Los Angeles Times, Jan. 23, 2008 http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-ledger23jan23,0,7950900.story, Accessed June 17, 2011
179 Boucher, Geoff, Matea Gold and Paul Lieberman, “Ledger’s Death is a Shock to Hollywood, Fans,” The Los Angeles Times, Jan. 23, 2008, http://www.latimes.com/news/ printedition/asection/la-et-ledger23jan23,0,2933344.story, accessed July 2, 2011
180 Gold, Matea and Paul Lieberman, “Actor Heath Ledger Found Dead,” The Los Angeles Times, Jan. 23, 2008 http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-ledger23jan23,0,7950900.story, Accessed June 17, 2011
181 Ibid.
182 Ibid.
183 Boucher, Geoff, Matea Gold and Paul Lieberman, “Ledger’s Death is a Shock to Hollywood, Fans,” The Los Angeles Times, Jan. 23, 2008, http://www.latimes.com/news/ printedition/asection/la-et-ledger23jan23,0,2933344.story, accessed July 2, 2011
184 Carpetbagger, “Waving Goodbye From a Distance,” The New York Times, Jan. 29, 2008, http://carpetbagger.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/29/waving-goodbye-from-a-distance/?scp=364&sq=batman&st=nyt, accessed Aug. 16, 2011
185 Boucher, Geoff, Matea Gold and Paul Lieberman, “Ledger’s Death is a Shock to Hollywood, Fans,” The Los Angeles Times, Jan. 23, 2008, http://www.latimes.com/news/ printedition/asection/la-et-ledger23jan23,0,2933344.story, accessed July 2, 2011
186 Barron, James, “Medical Examiner Rules Ledger’s Death Accidental,” The New York Times, Feb. 7, 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/07/nyregion/07ledger. html?ref=heathledger, accessed July 3, 2011
187 Ibid.
188 Ibid.
189 Halbfinger, David M., “Batman’s Burden: A Director Confronts Darkness and Death,” The New York Times, March 9, 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/ movies/09halb.html?ref=heathledger, accessed July 3, 2011
190 Bloom, Julie, “Dark Knight Pays Tribute,” The New York Times, June 28, 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/28/arts/28arts-DARKKNIGHTPA_BRF.html?adxnnl=1 &ref=heathledger&adxnnlx=1309716217-OB8etOLMp/2schQGRMQLAw, accessed July 3, 2011
191 Garrett, Diane, “Truly Tragic End to a Promising Career,” Daily Variety, Jan. 23, 2008, p. 1
192 Ibid., p. 24
193 Graser, Marc, “Joker Glows in ‘Dark,’” Weekly Variety, June 30-July 13, 2008, p. 4
194 Ibid., p. 4, 57
195 Steele, Francesca, “The Web Watcher: Batman; The Dark Knight; Kyle Piccolo; Fred Loses His Meds,” The London Times, July 10, 2008
196 Boucher, Geoff, “Christopher Nolan’s ‘Knight’ Vision,” The Los Angeles Times, July 6, 2008 http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-ca-nolan6-2008jul06,0,522026.story
197 Ibid.
198 Ibid.
199 Ibid.
200 Morant, Michael, “Batman: Gotham Knight, “ The (London) Sunday Times, Feb. 17, 2008
201 Boucher, Geoff, “Movie Sneaks: Summer 2008: Batman’s Next Villain: Is This a Clue?” The Los Angeles Times, May 4, 2008, http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-ca- eckhartbox4-2008may04,0,3781728.story, accessed July 2, 2011
202 Belluck, Pam, “A Bigger Stage for a Senator,” The New York Times, Jul 12 2008, p. A.9
203 Thielman, Sam, “A ‘Knight’ To Remember,’” Daily Variety, July 17, 2008, p. 15
204 Uslan, Michael E., The Boy Who Loved Batman, © 2011 Chronicle Books, San Francisco, p. 230-231
205 Cieply, Michael, “’Dark Knight’ Star Denies Assault,” The New York Times, July 19, 2008, p. E.2
206 Brown, David, “Batman Star, Christian Bale, Arrested After ‘Attacking His Mother and Sister in Hotel Suite’” The London Times, July 23 2008
207 —, “Profile: Christian Bale—The Brooding Star of Batman Has Shades of His On-Screen Persona; But Last Week He Was Unable to Escape the Spotlight,” The London Times, July 27, 2008
208 Hines, Nico, “Batman Star Christian Bale Arrested by London Police on Suspicion of Assault,” The London Times, July 22, 2008
209 Brown, David, “Batman Star, Christian Bale, Arrested After ‘Attacking His Mother and Sister in Hotel Suite’” The London Times, July 23 2008
210 Cusick, Casey, “Hard Day’s ‘Knight,’” Daily Variety, July 24, 2008, p. 23
211 Hines, Nico, “Batman Star Christian Bale Arrested by London Police on Suspicion of Assault,” The London Times, July 22, 2008
212 Bloom, Julie, “Batman Actor Seeks Space,” The New York Times, Jul. 25, 2008, p. E.2
213 Byers, David, “Batman Star Christian Bale Asks for Privacy in First Comments Since Arrest,” The London Times, July 24, 2008
214 Hines, Nico, “Batman Star Christian Bale Will Not Be Charged With Assault,” The London Times, Aug. 14, 2008
215 Pringle, Gill, “On the Move: Christian Bale—Terminator and Batman Star Has Dirt Bikes, Pick-up Truck and a Triumph TR6 Roadster But Wasn’t Allowed to Ride the Bat Pod,” The London Times, May 17, 2009
216 Dargis, Manohla, “Showdown in Gotham Town: Movie Review ‘The Dark Knight,’” The New York Times, Jul. 18, 2008, p. E.1
217 Travers, Peter, “Review: The Dark Knight,” Rolling Stone, July 18, 2008, http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/the-dark-knight-20080718, accessed Aug. 12, 2011
218 Teeman, Tim, “The Dark Knight: the First Review,” The London Times, July 15, 2008
219 Christopher, James, “The Dark Knight: Heath Ledger’s Posthumous Oscar Looks in the Bag as The Dark Knight Rewrites the Comic-Book Thriller Genre,” The London Times, July 24, 2008
220 Chang, Justin, “’Knight’ Plays Darker Card,” Daily Variety, July 7, 2008, p. 16
221 Landesman, Cosmo, “Christian Bale’s Batman is a Costume With No Content: it’s Heath Ledger’s Joker Who’s the Fantastic Freak,” The (London) Sunday Times, July 27, 2008
222 Graser, Marc, “Joker Glows in ‘Dark,’” Weekly Variety, June 30-July 13, 2008, p. 57
223 Brooks, Richard, “Batman ‘Too Violent’ for Children: The Dark Knight Has Sparked Record Complaints,” The London Times, Aug. 3, 2008
224 Ibid.
225 Malvern, Jack, “Batman Faces the Quiet Man as Iain Duncan Smith Complains About Violence,” The London Times, Aug. 5, 2008
226 Cieply, Michael, “Many Movie Theaters Decide to Leave the Bat Signal On Till Dawn,” The New York Times, Jul. 9, 2008. p. E.1
227 Ibid.
228 Thielman, Sam, “Screenings All ‘Knight’ Long,” Weekly Variety, July 21-27, 2008, p. 38
229 McClintock, Pamela and Dave McNary, “B.O. Turns on ‘Knight’ Light,” Daily Variety, July 18, 2008, p. 24
230 McClintock, Pamela, “Batman Goes Pow!: ‘Knight,’ ‘Mamma’ Rock Weekend,” Daily Variety, July 21, 2008, p. 23
231 McClintock, Pamela and Dave McNary, “B.O. Turns on ‘Knight’ Light,” Daily Variety, July 18, 2008, p. 24
232 —, “No joke! ‘Dark Knight’ Makes a Killing,” The Los Angeles Times, July 20, 2008 http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/movies/la-et-boxoffice21-2008jul21,0,3066584.story, accessed June 17, 2011
233 McClintock, Pamela and Dave McNary, “B.O. Turns on ‘Knight’ Light,” Daily Variety, July 18, 2008, p. 24
234 Ibid.
235 Cieply, Michael, “’Dark Knight’ Star Denies Assault,” The New York Times, June 19, 2008, p. E.2
236 Cieply, Michael, “Batman Rules the Night, and the Whole Weekend,” The New York Times, Jul 21, 2008, p. E.1
237 McClintock, Pamela and Dave McNary, “Batman, the B.O. Wonder,” Daily Variety, July 22, 2008, p. 17
238 Cieply, Michael, “Batman Rules the Night, and the Whole Weekend,” The New York Times, Jul 21, 2008, p. E.1
239 Arango, Tim, “Holy Cash Cow, Batman! Content Is Back,” The New York Times, Aug. 10, 2008, p. BU.1
240 Stelter, Brian a
nd Brad Stone, “Digital Pirates Winning Battle With Studios,” The New York Times, Feb. 4, 2009, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/05/business/ media/05piracy.html?scp=311&sq=batman&st=nyt, accessed Aug. 17, 2011
241 Ibid.
242 McClintock, Pamela and Dave McNary, “B.O. Turns on ‘Knight’ Light,” Daily Variety, July 18, 2008, p. 24
243 Barnes, Brooks, “Batman Weekend 2: $75 Million, Still Ahead,” The New York Times, Jul. 28, 2008, p. E.1
244 Ibid.
245 McNary, Dave, “O’seas B.O.’s Batty Too,” Daily Variety, July 28, 2008, p. 22
246 Bosman, Julie, “Dark Knight Stays On Top,” The New York Times, Aug. 11, 2008, p. E.2
247 Cieply, Michael and Brooks Barnes, “’Thunder’ Dethrones A Batman Blockbuster,” The New York Times, Aug. 18, 2008, http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9 F03E5DB163AF93BA2575BC0A96E9C8B63&scp=25&sq=batman&st=nyt, accessed Aug. 16, 2011
248 Christopher Goodwin, Christopher, “How Batman Became Cinema’s Top Trump,” The London Times, Aug. 17, 2008
249 McClintock, Pamela, “Titanic Task: How Far Will ‘Knight’ Soar?” Daily Variety, July 30, 2008, p. 1
250 McNary, Dave, “Fruit of the ‘Tomb,’” Daily Variety, Aug. 18, 2008. p. 9
251 McNary, Dave, “O’seas Flies With Batpic,” Daily Variety, Sept. 2, 2008, p. 1
252 McClintock, Pamela, “Summer Cum Laude: B.O. on Par With Hot ‘07,” Daily Variety, Sept. 2, 2008, p. 20
253 Ibid.
254 Ibid.
255 Boyle, Catherine, “Time Warner Picked Up By Batman,” The London Times, Nov. 5, 2008
256 McClintock, Pamela, “2008: Year That Broke the Rules,” Weekly Variety, Dec. 15-21, 2008, p. 8
257 —, “Actor Morgan Freeman hospitalized at The MED after accident,” WMCTV.com, Aug. 4, 2008, http://www.wmctv.com/story/8783679/actor-morgan-freeman- hospitalized-at-the-med-after-accident?redirected=true, accessed Sept. 7, 2011
258 Ibid.
259 —, “Records Show Freeman Settles Car Crash Suit,” MSNBC.msn.com, http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/33683095/ns/today-entertainment/t/records-show-freeman-settles- car-crash-suit/, accessed Sept. 8, 2011
260 Zoe Blackler, Zoe, “Batman Crew Member Died in Stunt Accident,” The London Times, Nov. 4, 2008
261 Burlingame, Jon, “’Knight’ Score’s Nixed,” Daily Variety, Nov. 13, 2008. p. 4
262 Ibid.
263 Goldstein, Patrick and James Rainey, “Hans Zimmer to Academy: I’m no Liar!” The Los Angeles Times, Dec. 9, 2008, http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/the_big_ picture/2008/12/hans-zimmer-to.html, accessed Sept. 7, 2011
264 Chang, Justin, “’Wall-E’ Booted Up,” Daily Variety, Dec. 10, 2008, p. 1
265 King, Susan, “’Dark Knight’ Swoops Into DGA Nominations: Superhero Movie Continues to Perform Well Among Guilds,” The Los Angeles Times, Jan. 8, 2009, http:// theenvelope.latimes.com/entertainment/env-et-dga-noms2009jan8,0,1602939.story, accessed Aug. 17, 2011
266 —, “Oscar Nominations: Supporting Players,” The Los Angeles Times, Jan. 23, 2009, http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-oscarssupportingactors23- 2009jan23,0,2572291.story, accessed July 2, 2011
267 Johnson, Reed, “For Heath Ledger, A Bittersweet Salute,” The Los Angeles Times, Feb. 23, 2009, http://theenvelope.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-oscarledger23- 2009feb23,0,3072313.story
268 Sharkey, Betsy, “Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger—Yes, Absolutely,” The Los Angeles Times, Feb. 23, 2009, http://theenvelope.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et- oscarsupportingactor23-2009feb23,0,3045958.story, accessed July 2, 2011
269 Boucher, Geoff, “Christopher Nolan: All His Altered States,” The Los Angeles Times, Dec. 9, 2010, http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-en-chris-nolan-20101209,0,54088.story, accessed June 17, 2011
270 Christopher Goodwin, Christopher, “How Batman Became Cinema’s Top Trump,” The London Times, Aug. 17, 2008
271 —, “Batman and the War on Terror,” The New York Times, July 21, 2008, http://theboard.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/21/batman-and-the-war-on-terror/?scp=28&sq=batm an&st=nyt, accessed Aug. 16, 2011
272 Christopher Goodwin, Christopher, “How Batman Became Cinema’s Top Trump,” The London Times, Aug. 17, 2008
273 Ibid.
274 Ibid.
275 Ibid.
276 Rampell, Catherine, “The Joker’s Bailout Plan,” The New York Times, Sept. 26, 2008, http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/26/the-jokers-bailout- plan/?scp=634&sq=batman&st=nyt, accessed Aug. 16, 2011
277 Booth, Jenny, “Author of ‘Shocking, Racist’ Obama Joker Image Unveiled—as a Bored History Student,” The London Times, Aug. 18 2009
278 Jaafar, Ali, “Bat Spat: Turk Kicks Caped Crusader,” Daily Variety, Nov. 12, 2008, p. 26
279 Garrett, Diane, “Pressure on ‘Knight’: Huge Blu-Ray Bow Can’t Ignite DVD Biz,” Daily Variety, Dec. 12, 2008, p. 8
280 Ibid.
281 Ibid.
282 Fritz, Ben, “Warner Bros. Launching ‘Dark Knight,’ ‘Inception’ as iPhone Apps,” The Los Angeles Times, February 15, 2011, http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/ entertainmentnewsbuzz/2011/02/dark-knight-inception-iphone-apps-warner-bros.html, accessed Aug. 17, 2011
283 Fritz, Ben, “First Movie on Facebook: Warner Bros.’ ‘The Dark Knight,’” The Los Angeles Times, March 8, 2011, http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/ entertainmentnewsbuzz/2011/03/the-dark-knight-first-movie-available-on-facebook.html, accessed July 2, 2011
284 Ibid.
285Smyth, Chris, “Batman Scores $1m Knockout Against Superman in Comic Wars,” The (London) Sunday Times, February 27 2010
286 Gustines, George Gene, “Batman’s First Appearance at a Bruce Wayne Price,” The New York Times, Feb. 26, 2010, http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/26/batmans- first-appearance-at-a-bruce-wayne-price/?scp=43&sq=batman&st=nyt, accessed Aug. 17, 2011
287 Smyth, Chris, “Batman Scores $1m Knockout Against Superman in Comic Wars,” The (London) Sunday Times, February 27 2010
288 Gustines, George Gene, “Turning a 10-Cent Comic Book Into a Million Bucks,” The New York Times, February 27, 2010, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/28/ weekinreview/28gustines.html?scp=66&sq=batman&st=nyt, accessed Aug. 17, 2011
289 —, “Rare Comic Book Sells For $1.5 Million,” The Los Angeles Times, March 29, 2010, http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/ktla-superman-comic-record- sale,0,6704702.story, accessed July 2, 2011
290 Graser, Marc, “Hero Hunt Heats Up...and Taps Into Ties at DC Comics,” Weekly Variety, Aug. 18-24, 2008, p. 7
291 Moran, Michael, Chris Nolan on Dark Knight, on Heath Ledger, and the Possibility of Batman 3,” The London Times, Oct. 28, 2008
292 Moran, Michael, “Christian Bale to Kill Batman AND Terminator?” The London Times, June 25 2009
293 Fleming, Michael, “The Groundbreakers: Chris Nolan,” Daily Variety, Oct. 29, 2008, p. A30
AFTERWORD
So, what happened to the man who, in 1979, saw that Batman had the potential to rise out of the dustbin of television history and become one of Warner Bros. biggest corporate assets? How does he feel about how the franchise evolved? Interviewed in 2009, Michael Uslan summed up his view of the Batman films, saying, “If you look at the comics in the ‘30s all the way on up, there have been so many radically different interpretations of Batman in tone and appearance and story, in every way, shape or form, completely different. And, to me, the first Batman movie captured a lot of the tone of the Batman of 1939. The second one, I thought, was very much like the Batman comics of the ‘90s, where Batman was just about as dark as he had ever been, sometimes soulless, almost vampiric in a sense, very cold. With Batman Forever, with the exception of the way Val Kilmer interpreted Bruce Wayne, I think it was really, truly the Batman of the late ‘40s through the ‘50s—the typical Bill Finger scripts, Batman and Robin punning their way through, jumping across giant typewriters against a rogue’s gallery of grotesque supervillains. And I always thought that that was played with such
darkness and a looseness by Val Kilmer in the third one, Batman Forever, that his performance evoked, to me, my experience of seeing Frank Langella play Dracula on Broadway. I always thought that Batman and Robin was the ‘60s TV show regurgitated, and the less said the better. And then with Chris Nolan’s genius, brilliant work, I think it is the definitive Batman that works for every generation no matter which Batman you grew up with, which one you read or which one you saw in the media. It just absolutely nails it for everyone.”
But how do audiences today react to the various films? What would happen if an informal group of Bat-fanatics congregated to watch all of the Batman theatrical films back-to-back? How would they rank the individual films on a 1 to 10 scale? Would the Batman films of Tim Burton outrank those of Joel Schumacher? And would an audience comprised mostly of viewers born well after the release of the Adam West movie appreciate its campy take on the character?
On Saturday, August 6, 2011, Brad Hansen and Athena Stamos of Los Angeles, California hosted a Bat-marathon, starting at 8 AM in the morning and ending at 2 AM the following morning. The couple had previously hosted a 3-day James Bond marathon and an all-day Star Trek marathon, both of which garnered international recognition.
For the Bat-marathon, they screened eight theatrically released Batman films, beginning with the 1966 Batman (they skipped over the two Batman serials, which together would have added an additional eight hours to their viewing time). They screened both of the Tim Burton movies, the animated Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, both Joel Schumacher films, and both Christopher Nolan epics. The number of attendees fluctuated throughout the day, with a low of 8 and a high of 20, so the survey was hardly scientific. However, after each film was screened, each viewer was asked to rank it on a scale of zero to 10, 10 being best. So how did the films fare? Here’s the breakdown:
Film
# of
Viewers
Highest
Vote
Lowest Vote
Average
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